Titan Strikers Online
by emmdash
Summary: When a virtual reality game based on the popular anime Attack on Titan is released, Kazuto Kirigaya is anxious to dive in and become the ultimate player; little does he know, he isn't ever going back.
1. Anomalous

"You're pretty good."

The minuscule titan slammed headfirst into the ground before exploding into millions of blue pixels.

"Thanks."

The archer tossed me a healing potion—an item that cost dozens of Cor. Luckily, I'd gotten it for free; he promised to reward me with an expensive item if I could defeat three titans in a row.

"Listen, kid... you should join the tournament they're having tomorrow. You could get a ton of money," he persuaded.

"I'll think about it," I replied, sheathing my sword.

* * *

This world was beautiful. It was hard to get over how much detail there was in this game—though, it could barely be considered a game anymore. This game was my reality, albeit a virtual one.

Though I would've liked to admire the vast fields and dungeons before me, I instead had to gather as much loot from the three-meter titans as possible. In the daytime, there were only small titans that could barely hurt you; in the nighttime, the larger and more gruesome titans came out, along with an armored titan that led them into battle. All I had in my inventory was a few pieces of titan meat, fifteen Cor, and the default weapon that players received when they first logged on.

And just then, my HP dropped in half.

An aberrant titan had come bolting toward me.

Its first attack made me fly across the field and land in a pile of mud. Quickly, I gulped down half of the healing potion I had been given, and my HP recovered instantaneously. Apparently, it was already nighttime, and the more vicious titans were on the way.

The aberrant titan wasn't finished. It approached me, but this time, I was prepared. Leaping into the air, I hooked onto its head and spun around to its neck, stabbing it with great force. Blood spewed onto my face, surprising me; I fell to the ground, my HP falling to around 25%.

Somehow, the titan was not finished. Its HP was still at half, and it stared me in the eyes eerily.

The game was only just beginning, and I was being decimated.

Groaning, I jolted up and ran between the titan's legs, hooking onto its neck before it could turn around. As I whizzed through the air, players started swarming the area, gazing at me with their jaws dropped.

"Haven't any of you guys seen someone kill an aberrant before?" I asked the crowd, loudly. There was no reply, and I impaled the titan, ending the battle.

* * *

"How did you _do _that, dude?!"

"You're our hero!"

"Will you beat the game for us?!"

Hordes of players surrounded me, asking questions and irritating me in various other ways; I suppose this is what I deserved for showing off.

When no one expected it, I slipped through the crowd into the door of an inn. Finally—peace and quiet.

The innkeeper behind the desk greeted me, asking if I wanted to buy a room. Promptly, I nodded; she handed me the keys to my room with a wide grin on her face. Thanking her, I left the lobby and proceeded to my room, which was on the fourth floor of the building—far away from the crowd.

My room was small, but it sufficed; I was immensely tuckered out from the fight, and I needed to rest. Everyone else was out in the field battling the waves of titans that were marching in, but I didn't want to risk my life just yet. My plan was to fight three-meter titans that next day, and collect enough Cor to buy armor and a better sword at a shop. Maybe I'd even be accepted into the Survey Corps, the best guild in the game—it was the first one to be created, and it had been formed in the alpha testing of the game. Apparently, to get in, you had to take a exceptionally difficult exam; I thought that I could surely pass, for I had just slayed an aberrant titan, and I felt extremely proud of myself.

Eventually, I stopped contemplating the entry exam, and I drifted into sleep.

* * *

"Wake up!"

My sleep was abruptly interrupted by a familiar voice. As soon as my eyes groggily slipped open, I could see that Armin was standing above my bed with his arms crossed.

"We were going to go on a hunt tonight, you idiot!"

"How'd you find me?" I sleepily answered, rolling out of my bed and falling on the floor.

"I have my ways," he huffed. "Now, party up with me!"

He was right—I had promised this annoying boy that, once we were in the game, we would venture out to the hunting grounds and fight together. We had gone to school together before the incident, and I had only become his friend because I felt sympathy for him; he was always alone, and his face was always in a book.

But now that the incident had occurred, I had thought that the deal was surely off; why would he still want to hunt with me if it meant that he would risk his life? He wasn't even good at the game—somehow, he was only a level two, while I had achieved level five within one afternoon.

"Fine..." I muttered, pressing my fingers down, opening my menu, and sending him a party request. Almost instantly after I sent the request, it was accepted; now, directly below mine, there was another HP bar—it was Armin's, and I had about three times as much health as he did.

"Let's go! With you on my side, we can certainly defeat some of them! Right?" he asked.

"Uh... sure," I answered.

Beckoning for me to come with him, Armin left the room. Did I really have to protect this guy?

Of course I did. If he were to lose all of his HP...

Not wanting to let that happen, I dashed out of the room and followed behind my party member.

"Be careful... there might be a crowd of people out there looking for me," I warned him.

"Wait... what?!"

* * *

"All right! Here we are!" Armin exclaimed, extending his arm and pointing to the field excitedly.

Players were losing to the titans everywhere you looked, and the sky was full of blue shards. The armored titan was the main cause of this, looking about a hundred times as strong as that pathetic aberrant titan that confronted me before. This would be difficult...

How did I get myself into such a mess? It's a long story.


	2. Commencement

"Welcome to Titan Slayers Online!"

After I had muttered the command to start my NerveGear, this automated sentence played. The familiar flashing colors that greeted my eyes whenever I entered a game were there, but this was no ordinary game—this was going to be the last game I would ever play.

"Please create your character, new player."

Now, I stood in an empty room that was entirely white; in front of me was a holographic menu that displayed various traits I could give to my online avatar. My appearance in the game was a taller, older version of myself with a different hairstyle.

"What would you like your in-game name to be?"

This question resounded through the room, and the character creation menu slowly shifted into a menu in which I could input my name.

"Kirito," I muttered, having already planned who my avatar would be known as.

* * *

That day, when I first logged on, was the worst day of my life.

The game seemed fun when I had partaken in the beta test; I'd only reached the sixth floor, though, and there were a hundred of them. TSO's goal was to reach the top of the tower, but on each floor, the titans got more and more ferocious. Getting to the top was a daunting task—a task I wanted to complete.

That is, of course, until the incident occurred.

* * *

"Could you please help me with something?"

Someone—a random stranger I'd never met—was begging me to teach him how to play the game. He had seen me pass through a shortcut in the city that led directly to the hunting grounds, so he presumed I'd been in the beta test—he was correct. Despite the fact that I'd denied his request several times, he persisted, and I finally agreed.

"All I need to be taught is how to kill those things," the stranger explained, pointing to one of the titans that was walking around in a circle.

"Okay. That's simple. Follow me," I replied.

"Oh, yeah. The name's Klein, by the way," he informed me, holding out his hand.

"Uh, Kirito..." I shook his hand hesitantly; rarely did anyone want to acquaint themselves with me.

We arrived in the field moments later, and a titan had its eye on me.

"See that? If they look at you, attack," I told Klein, drawing my blade—a pathetic «Starter Sword». In a flash, I leaped into the air and hooked onto its chest, whirling around to its back and climbing up to its neck. This was a mere three-meter titan, so it could be disposed of rather easily.

My hand grasped the hilt of the sword tightly, and I slashed it into the neck of the titan, creating a deep wound. Because I knew it was about to fall to the ground, I pushed myself off its back and hooked onto the ground, landing gracefully as the titan exploded into blue shards.

Klein stared at me in awe.

"And that's how it's done," I stated, sheathing my blade.

"That was... incredible," Klein uttered. "You're way faster than anyone I've seen in this game so far."

"Thanks," I replied. At that point, I was genuinely surprised that someone was complimenting me on my skill in a game I had thought I wasn't that great at.

"So, basically, just go for their necks, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. But sometimes, they'll turn around before you can get there, so you might need to do what I did," I explained. "Hook onto the top of their heads and swing around."

"Okay. Thanks," Klein replied. "I'm going to try it myself now."

* * *

The day—in-game, of course—was almost complete, and I was ready to log out. It wasn't that I was ready to—it was that I _had _to. My mother had prepared dinner at 6:30 PM, and that time was drawing near.

Klein had become decent at combat, but he still had much to learn. He simply didn't know what to do when a titan turned around, though I'd explicitly explained. Maybe I _was _really good at this game, and that skill was too difficult for other players to learn.

When I went to my menu to log out, however, there was no «Log Out» option. The space where it was supposed to be was blank. There was no doubt that I knew where this button was; I'd been in the beta test, and I was highly familiar with the menu.

"Hey, Klein," I called to the man who was currently searching for more titans to slay.

"Yeah?"

"Can you log out? My menu doesn't have the button..."

He pressed his fingers together and opened the menu, and his facial expression let me know that I wasn't alone on this.

"Nope... mine doesn't either."

* * *

The time was 6:31 PM—I was officially late for dinner.

"They should really fix this bug soon," I murmured.

"My pizza..." Klein whimpered. He had had a temper tantrum because he realized he could not eat the pizza he ordered.

"Hey, wait... what's going on with our legs?" I asked.

We both had some kind of blue light covering our legs that was slowly moving upward.

"Oh... this is a transport... but why? Maybe the GM will address the glitch," I told myself.

The GM—the Game Master.

* * *

Every single player in the game—that's around 10,000 players—was standing in the central plaza of the first city. They all looked confused, and I was as well; I assumed an announcement was about to be made, but why was there no warning?

My prediction was correct—the sky turned from light blue to dark red, and the words "System Announcement" were put on top of this color. The next event that occurred took me by surprise; a hole in the sky emerged, and a thick, red liquid poured out, forming into a strange shape. This shape turned out to be a familiar figure: a Game Master. These cloaked figures moderated the game and were responsible for making announcements.

But the announcement this GM was about to make was like no other.

"Hello, players. As you might have noticed, your ability to log out has been disabled."

The players nodded in unison, gazing up at the Game Master.

"This is not a problem with the system, and it will not be fixed," the voice of the GM boomed.

"What?!"

"Why?!"

"No!"

The GM ignored these calls from the players, and he continued talking.

"This game is your only reality. If your HP drops to zero, you will be permanently unable to play the game, and you will lose your life in the real world."

Sweat poured down my face.

"And if the NerveGear is removed from your head, you will also die in the real world. This fact has already caused over 200 casualties," he informed us, making dozens of news articles covering the problem appear.

He was telling us this so nonchalantly, like we shouldn't care...

Could he be telling the truth?

"Have fun, players... and please check your inventories. There is a gift inside."


	3. Proclamation

"Let's go!"

Armin charged into battle with his sword drawn and his maneuver gear ready, despite his low level. This boy was confident, but he had to be protected; he'd surely fall in battle if he attempted going up against an armored titan with his strength.

"Fine..." I muttered, following him. Once we arrived on the field, we confronted a five-meter titan that seemed fixated on Armin.

"You distract him while I attack!" I commanded Armin, and he nodded, jumping up and down as the titan drew closer.

The new players of TSO would have difficulty taking down an enemy of such height, but I had seen plenty of them during the beta test—destroying this titan would be no problem.

Darting behind the opponent and aiming my maneuver gear, I hooked right onto its back and sliced into its neck—a motion I'd used quite a bit that day.

The titan toppled over, and the blue pixels emerged once again. This game was beginning to bore me; the combat was the same every time.

"Man, you're good," Armin noted.

"No one's told me _that _today," I mumbled.

"Really? That's surprising."

* * *

The expedition in the field was benefiting us immensely. We'd both grown multiple levels; he was a level eight, and I had achieved level fifteen. The seven-meter titans were especially difficult to take down, but they gave off a vast amount of experience.

"Hey... we make a good team. We're powerful. So we should go take on that armored titan over there!" Armin exclaimed, pointing to a titan that was at least twice as tall as a seven-meter and was devouring a player.

"Maybe not. No one has ever beaten that type. Not even in the beta test," I informed him.

"Surely _you _could," Armin argued.

"Maybe another day. Once we're more leveled."

* * *

"Welcome to The Titan Tournament! Here, we have some of the greatest titan slayers who will compete for the grand prize: 10,000 Cor!"

This was the tournament the archer had been referring to. It was held in a large auditorium with a stage in the center, surrounded by seats; I was sitting in the balcony, observing. Maybe I would want to join this tournament, but first, I wanted to see what it was like.

"So, you came."

This sentence made me jump—someone was standing right next to me. When I turned my head to see who it was, I saw that it was the archer who had given me the potion. Immediately, I wanted to express my gratitude.

"Thanks for the potion."

"You're welcome."

The hooded archer sat down next to me and gazed at the stage.

"Are you entering this?"

"Maybe," I replied, "but I want to see it first."

"That's fine. They do these every other day, so you could join any time you'd like."

The players that were competing stepped out of the curtains and onto the stage. They looked nervous, and I could make out sweat on their faces. The announcer explained that many three-meter class titans were about to be unleashed on the stage, and the players would have to slay all of them.

"Whoever gets the most kills is the victor!" the announcer continued.

"They're letting titans out on the stage? There's so many people here... someone could get hurt," I whispered.

"Yeah," the archer replied, "that's why so many people are up on the balcony. They don't want to risk their lives."

"Maybe I don't want to do this... these guys are putting people's lives at risk, and I don't want to be a part of it."

"Shut up. It's starting," the archer snapped, surprising me.

Four or five three-meter titans poured out onto the stage, fixated on the competitors, who leaped into action. Some of them were trying to do damage, and some were backing off. After one titan dropped to the floor, everyone that was staying back sprinted toward the enemies; they knew that, if they wanted to win, they'd have to strike. All the competitors were now fighting, and some were fighting each other to get the final blow; it didn't matter if you inflicted damage upon one of them—you had to get the last slash.

"You could do this, Aberrant Slayer," the archer told me.

"What?"

"Yeah, the Aberrant Slayer. Haven't you heard that nickname for you?"

"No..."

"It's what everyone's calling you. Oh, and speaking of names... I'm Eren, by the way."

"Oh, I'm Kirito," I replied.

"Nice to meet you."

* * *

"You want to fight in the tournament?"

The stern man I'd been waiting in line to see even recognized me.

"Ah, of course. Kirito, yes?" he asked.

Upon hearing my name, I nodded.

"Please go into the next room for the preliminaries."

* * *

The other competitors stared at me in awe as I gracefully pierced the air with my maneuver gear—as everyone who saw me did. This game was the same thing every time: find a titan that's looking at you, hook onto it, and cut it in the neck. My boredom was increasing rapidly.

All three of the judges who were determining who would get to be in the tournament gave me scores of "10"—this meant I would surely get in. After thanking them, I left the room and headed back to my inn room.

"Attention!"

The booming voice was coming from a tall soldier with long, blue hair.

"The boss has been found! This game is not unbeatable!"

Murmurs arose from the pedestrians nearby. Some people had thought we'd always be trapped in the first floor, but if this strange man was telling the truth, we were about to reach the second.

"A meeting is to be held tomorrow! Anyone who would like to fight the first boss is welcome! That is all!" the knight exclaimed.


End file.
